Morse Code Practice Software: Which Trainer to Use

The Koch course on this site and eight programs that come up in search results, forum threads and software lists for "which Morse code training program should I use?", with what each one says about itself.

Compiled by Translate Morse Code (independent site). Each row was checked against the program's own page or store listing (for Morse Runner and RufzXP, the DXZone software catalog), read between 12 and 24 October 2026; where a program's page gives no price or platform, the figure comes from DXZone. Prices and versions change, so check the program's page before you buy.

You don't need to install anything to learn Morse code. Three options run in a web browser on a computer, tablet or phone, and none asks you to pay.

The Koch course on this site. The Koch method course plays every character at 20 WPM from the first lesson, with the gaps stretched to an overall 12 WPM, at a 620 Hz tone. Lesson 1 has just K and M: 10 groups of 5 to copy by ear, and 90% unlocks the next character, up to 41 characters in 40 lessons. There is no account; your place is saved in the browser on that device. The same progress feeds the daily Morse code practice, the sound-alike drill and the listening drills.

LCWO. LCWO.net, run by Fabian Kurz, says you can "learn Morse telegraphy (CW) online in your browser" without installing a program. It needs a free account (the site offers the username "test", password "test" to try it), and in return your settings and statistics follow you to any computer. Besides its Koch course it has speed practice with code groups, plain text, callsigns and words, MP3 practice files to download, and a text-to-CW converter that works without a login. Its course uses the same 41-character Koch order as the course here and starts new users at 20 WPM characters and 15 WPM effective.

Google's Morse trainer, now hosted by Ace Centre. Ace Centre's Morse trainer was "originally developed by Google to support Morse code for accessible communication", built by Tania Finlayson, Use All Five, Google Creative Lab and AceCentre. You play with on-screen buttons or an input device of your choice. Ace Centre asks before collecting anonymous play data for its research into how long Morse takes to learn.

If you want a program on your PC, two free Windows trainers cover a full course, and two more programs are for later.

G4FON Koch CW Trainer. DXZone lists it as "a free windows morse code training program developed using the Koch method". The author's page describes Version 10: Words, Phrases and QSO practice files, a QRM generator that can run a simulated contest, a Sending Trainer that opens once you have learned the 40 built-in characters, random character groups and a Practice History window with a timeline or calendar of your sessions. The author has also worked with blind hams on screen-reader support. One install tip from the G4FON page: if you install it with an administrator password, run it from that administrator account too.

Just Learn Morse Code. By Sigurd Stenersen, LB3KB, and listed by DXZone as free Windows software. Its page lists a customizable character set, international characters, optional Farnsworth timing, practice with common words, abbreviations and Q codes, audio files made from text, and an optional dual pitch for initial learning.

After the course: Morse Runner and RufzXP. DXZone describes Morse Runner as "a freeware contest simulator for Windows" for contest and pileup practice, and RufzXP as free software for high-speed copying of real amateur radio callsigns. In the browser, the callsign sprint drills callsigns at rising speed and the QSO simulator drills copying a whole on-air contact.

Morse Mania. Its App Store listing shows it as free with in-app purchases, by developer Xiang Dong, for iPhone and iPad (iOS 13 or later); it is on Google Play too. It has 270 levels: 135 to receive and 135 to send, starting with E and T and going on to numbers, punctuation, prosigns, Q-codes, words, callsigns and sentences. Speed runs from 5 to 45 WPM, Farnsworth spacing from 5 to 45 WPM and the tone from 400 to 1000 Hz; the listing adds that a speed under 20 "is not recommended". It works offline, has no ads, and offers 7 sending keys, including an iambic key. The US store lists a Beginner's Bundle at $4.99, a Pro Bundle at $8.99 and a monthly premium subscription at $0.99.

Gboard's Morse keyboard and its trainer. In July 2018 Google rolled out Morse code on Gboard for iOS and improvements to it on Android, and its announcement said the trainer game "can help you learn it in less than an hour", meaning typing on that keyboard. On Android the Morse keyboard works with Switch Access. To type Morse with two keys on this site, use the Morse keyboard.

No app needed for the course here. The Koch course and the drills run in your phone's browser, and keyer practice gives you a large on-screen key to tap when you start sending.

Morse Code Ninja, by Kurt, AD0WE, is a course you listen to rather than a program you install. The course page describes it as a set of YouTube videos using the Farnsworth method, with characters at 20 WPM and an overall speed of 10 WPM. There are also playlists at 25/10 and 30/10 WPM, private podcast feeds for your podcast app, and ZIP downloads of the audio (the MP3 version at 20/10 WPM is a 5.7 GB download). The page mentions no Morse Code Ninja app.

It introduces characters in its own order, T, A, E, N, O, I, S, then the numbers 1 and 4, and its words and callsigns use only the characters introduced so far. One tip from the course page: if you can easily count the dits and dahs, play the videos at 125% or 150% speed. Later courses on the same site train instant word recognition and QSO elements.

Programs differ most at lesson 1. Here is how four of them begin, from their own pages and, for this site, from the course's code.

These are the two characters lesson 1 here plays:

• K

  -.-9 units · 0.54 s

• M

  --7 units · 0.42 s

Lesson 1 is 10 groups of 5 characters, about 44 seconds of sound at 20/12, plus the time you take to type. The Koch courses add one character each time you copy 90%; Farnsworth timing keeps each character at full speed and only stretches the gaps. The method itself, step by step, is in how to learn Morse code.

Pick by your device and by the stage you are at. A course and a speed drill do different jobs, so you can use one of each.

• Starting from zero, on any device: a Koch course in the browser, the one here (no account) or LCWO (free account, progress on any computer).
• Listening on a walk or in the car: Morse Code Ninja's podcast feeds or downloads.
• Levels and challenges on a phone: Morse Mania.
• One Windows program from lesson 1 to sending: G4FON Koch CW Trainer.
• A teacher and a class: CW Academy, run by the CW Operators' Club: eight-week classes held three times a year, with two online sessions a week; the Beginner class aims for 6 WPM.
• You already copy and want speed: RufzXP, Morse Runner, or the callsign sprint here.
• Typing Morse for accessibility: Gboard's Morse keyboard and its trainer.

How long any of them takes depends on daily practice more than on the program: see how long it takes to learn Morse code.

Try a Koch course now, in this tab: lesson 1 is K and M, 10 groups of 5.

After each lesson, open the daily Morse code practice, and find every drill on the Morse code trainer page.